Letterbox plate



June 25. 1968 L. COOPERSMITH 3,

LETTERBOX PLATE Filed Dec. 22, 1966 IN VENTOR.

United States Patent 3,389,854 LETIERBOX PLATE a Leo Coopersmith,Ivoryton, Conn., assignor to The H. B. Ives Company, New Haven, Conn., acorporation of Connecticut Filed Dec. 22, 1966, Ser. No. 603,872

4 Claims. (Cl. 232-46) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE There is provided aletterbox plate for receipt therethrough of mail delivered by a postman,of the type having a hinged flap to cover a letter opening in a frontplate of the assembly in such a way that when the flap is manipulated ituncovers the aforementioned opening in the plate. The flap has as anintegral part thereof a hinge pin received in a complementally formedflange in the front plate to form a hinge connection between the twoelements and the flange and flap are provided with coacting means toresist mutilation of the assembly when the flap is forceably opened.

This invention relates to letterbox plates and rel-ates moreparticularly to such plates of the type having a hinged flap to cover aletter opening in a base or front plate of the assembly when the latteris mounted on a closure such as a door in such a way that, when the flapis manipulated to uncover the aforementioned opening in the plate, whichis aligned with a complementally formed opening in the door, mail may beinserted through the assembly and door by a postman.

' Heretofore such letterbox plates having hinged covers have, in atleast many forms, been subject to the objection that force exerted onthe flap, when the latter is opened, tends to mutilate the hingeconnection between the flap and the plate, and it is not uncommon insuch circumstances to have the flap pop out of the plate. Moreover, insuch instances the plate and the flap may be permanently damaged whenforce is exerted on the flap in the aforesaid manner.

One object of the invention is to provide an improved letterbox platehaving a hinged flap.

Another object is to provide in such an assembly an improved hingeconnection between the base or front plate and the flap.

Still another object is to provide in such an assembly a plate and flapwhich coact in such a manner as to strongly resist mutilation of eitherby forces on the flap in a direction to open the flap, which forcesmight otherwise result in mutilation of the assembly as aforesaid.

A further object is to provide a letterbox plate for the aforementionedpurpose having a hinged flap to cover a letter opening in a front plateof the assembly, which, when manipulated, uncovers the aforementionedopening in the plate, wherein the flap has as an integral part thereof ahinge pin received in a complementally formed flange in the front plateto form a hinge connection be tween the two elements and the flange andflap are provided with coacting means to resist mutilation of theassembly when the flap is forceably opened.

Still another object is to provide a plate and flap assembly of theaforementioned type which is simple to manufaoture and economical toproduce.

In the drawing:

FIG. 1 is a fragmentary elevational, sectional view of a closure, suchas a vertically hinged door, provided with a letterbox plate, embodyingthe invention, and showing the latter in elevational section;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary sectional view of a portion of 3,389,854Patented June 25, 1968 the letterbox plate, similar to FIG. 1 and on alarger scale, showing the flap closed in full lines and showing it openin phantom; 1

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary perspective view of theletterbox-plate assemblyprior to completion of installation on a closure such as a door andillustrating in anexploded fashion certain fasteners which may beemployed in the installation; and I FIG. 4 is a fragmentary view similarto FIG. 3 but illustrating the flap in open position, prior tocompletion of the installation.

In the drawing the base or front plate of the letterbox assembly isindicated at 10, the plate being elongated horizontally, as best shownin FIG. 3, and preferably formed of a suitable metal such as brass orbronze, for example. The plate 10 has a longitudinal opening 11 thereinand the plate may be aflixed to a closure 13, having an opening 14therein aligned with the opening 11, by any suitable fasteners, screws12 (FIG. 4) being shown for this purpose. The fasteners 12 are coveredand, therefore hidden from view when the flap 15 is in the closedposition thereof.

In the illustrated form, the means shown merely by way of example forinstalling the letterbox plate assembly with the closure 13 includes aliner 10a within the opening 14 of the closure and a back plate 10b:having an opening therein aligned with the opening 11, secured to theclosure on the face thereof remote from the face to which the frontplate 10 is aflixed. The back plate 10b may be aflixed to the closure byscrews as indicated in FIG. 3 or, if desired, the front and back platesmay be interconnected, not shown, by male and female coupling members.

Hinged to the plate 10 is a flap or cover 15 constructed of a similarmaterial and which may be conveniently formed as an extrusion having ahinge pin portion 16 as an integral part thereof interconnected with.the body of the flap 15 by a neck 17. As will be apparent from theforegoing and from the drawing, the cover and the hinge pin may beformed in one piece. The flap or cover 15 is provided with a forwardlyextending (FIG. 1) longitudinal lip 18 along its lower margin by whichthe flap may be manipulated for access tothe opening 11 in the frontplate for the delivery of mail. In the type of installation illustrated,the letterbox plate is installed on the closure 13 in a horizontal planeand as the flap 15 is hinged at its upper margin it tends to close bygravity.

In the area of the hinge pin 16 and to receive the latter, the base orfront plate 10 is provided with an arcuate recess 19 extendinglengthwise thereof in a shouldered flange of the plate 10. The flangeand the plate 10 are formed as one piece. The surface area of the recess19 in a direction transversely of the pin 16 is suflicient to retain thepin in the plate 10 when once assembled, the pin portion 16 of the coverbeing assembled with the base plate by relative longitudinal slidingmovement of the parts. In other words, the cover or flap 15 having thepin 16 thereon is assembled by a sliding movement in a manner such thatone end of the pin enters one end of the recess 19 and the slidingmovement is continued until the aforementioned end of the pin reachesthe fully assembled position thereof in which it is located in the otherand of the elongated recess 19 in the plate 10.

Once assembled with the plate 10, the flap 15 is held against axialdislocation by a pair (FIGS. 3 and 4) of suitable headed fasteners, suchas indicated at 24, each being received in one of a pair of recessesformed in the respective ends of the pin 16, so that the head thereofoverlaps the aforementioned flange portion of the plate 10. Eachfastener 24 may have a press fit, if desired, in its companion recessformed in the pin 16.

It will be-noted that the aforementioned flange having the recess 19which receives the hinge pin 16 forms, thereby, the other element of thehinge connection. This flange has a longitudinal, distal and forwardlydirected lip 20 which is fingerlike in cross section as best shown inFIG. 2. The distal end of the finger is rounded as at 23. The flap 15,in a location near but spaced from the pin 16, has a longitudinal lip 21which also extends forwardly when the flapis closed, and which formswith the neck 17 of the flap a concave surface 22 complemcntally shapedwith reference to the surface 23 of the finger to receive the distal endof the finger in the manner shown in phantom in FIG. 2 when the flap 15is in fully open position.

In this position of the flap, the latter and the base plate lie inplanessubstantially at right angles to one another as shown in thelast-mentioned view. When the flap is in this position, the convex orrounded surface 23 of the finger 20 meets the concave surface 22 of thecover to form an abutment for the cover so that after these surfacesmeet, on further opening pressure exerted on the flap 15, the stress (inthe direction of the arrow in FIG. 2) on the finger portion 20 of thehinge connection is substantially lengthwise of the finger due to theaforemen tioned construction and arrangement, thereby tending to avoidany stress on the finger transversely thereof to inhibit bending ormutilation of the finger which provides at least in part, support forthe pin 16 of the hinge connection.

It will be noted that the coacting surfaces 22 and 23 of the flap 15 andthe base 10, respectively, provide abutments strongly resisting furtheropening movement of the flap 15 from the open posit-ion shown in phantomin FIG. 2. As previously indicated, this construction also inhibitsdislocation of the hinge pin 16 in such a manner as to pop out of theplate 10, when there is force applied to the flap 15 in thelast-mentioned position thereof in a counterclockwise direction asviewed in FIG. 2.

In the illustrated form, there is shown in FIG. 1 a permanent magnetelement 25 arranged lengthwise of the flap 15 adjacent the lip 18 infiush relation to the inner face of the flap. The element 25 may have apress fit in the flap and coact with a similarly constructed andarranged magnet element 26 received in the plate in a location foralignment with the magnet element 25 when the flap is closed.

The magnet elements are arranged so as to have opposite polarities,thereby attracting one another and holding the flap firmly in the closedposition thereof, as shown in FIG. 1. It will be understood, of course,that this magnetic force may be overcome by insertion of the fingers ofa hand rearwardly of the lip 18 and force applied through these fingersin a direction to swing the flap 15 in a counterclockwise direction asviewed in FIG. 1.

While only one form of the letterbox plate has been illustrated in thedrawing and described above, it will be readily apparent to those versedin the art that the assembly may take other forms and is susceptible ofvarious changes in details without departing from the principles of theinvention and the scope of the appended claims.

1. In a letterbox plate assembly for support from a closure such as adoor having a mail delivery opening therethrough, a front plate adaptedto be secured in fixed relation with respect to the outer face of thedoor and having means defining an opening therein in alignment with saiddoor opening, said plate having at one side andextending lengthwisethereof an integral lip providing in cross sectiona forwardly extendingfinger, a flap cover for closing said opening in the front plate havingas an integral part and extending along one side thereof a hinge pinlying substantially in the median plane of the cover and connectedto thebody portion of the cover by a substantially straight neck portion alsolying substantially in the median plane of the cover, said front platein the region of the lip portion thereof having an arcuate recess forslidably receiving said hinge pin on assembly of the parts andthereafter hingedly retaining said pin for swinging movement with thecover to an open position wherein the cover is substantially at rightangles to the plane of the front plate, said cover having means formanipulation thereof and having, when in closed position, an integralflange on the cover extending forwardly from the median plane thereofspaced from but adjacent to said pivot pin and coact-ing with the distalend of said finger to provide an abutment when the cover is in thelast-mentioned position thereof to limit swinging movement of the coverin an opening direction, which when engaged imposes a substantiallyaxial force on said finger when continued opening pressure is impartedto the cover, to inhibit mutilation of the front plate as by bending ofthe finger or dislocation of the hinge pin.

2. A letterbox plate assembly as defined in claim 1 wherein one of thecoacting stop surfaces to limit opening movement of the cover is concaveand the other is convex.

3. A letterbox plate assembly as defined in claim 1 wherein the distalend of the plate finger is convex and the abutment surface of the coverflange coacting with the finger is concave.

4. A letterbox plate assembly as defined in claim 3 wherein said fingeron the plate has a portion thereof at substantially right angles to themedian plane of the plate and a. distal end portion inclined at an acuteangle to the last-mentioned plane.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 731,138 6/1903 Stearns 16--19l2,852,802 9/ 1958 Seby 16-135 3,007,100 10/ 1961 Bettcher 1613 5 FOREIGNPATENTS 869,736 6/1961 Great Britain. 875,795 8/1961 Great Britain.

880,842 10/ 1961 Great Britain.

404,45 1 6/ 1966 Switzerland.

FRANCIS K. ZUGEL, Primary Examiner.

